MassDOT public meeting reveals 9 concepts for interchange of Routes 24 and 140

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shared nine different conceptual designs for proposed improvements to the interchange of Route 24 and Route 140 in Taunton during a public meeting on Wednesday night.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shared nine different conceptual designs for proposed improvements to the interchange of Route 24 and Route 140 in Taunton during a public meeting on Wednesday night.

The proposals range from $13 million to $53 million, and each provide alternatives to the current interchange with the intent of improving vehicular capacity in the area while also taking safety into consideration.

Leading the meeting was the project manager for the site, Hasmukh Patel.

Patel was joined by design consultants from the New York-based Greenman-Pedersen engineering firm, which has an office in Stoneham. Patel reminded those who attended, nearly 20 people, that the project is in the early stages of planning and there are no funding sources identified for the project at this point.

Patel also reminded residents at least three times that MassDOT is not prepared for discussion or questions about plans by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to build a casino right next to the interchange, although no one asked about it. Last week, the tribe announced its intention to build a casino at the intersection of Route 140 and Route 24 near the Liberty and Union Industrial Park and the Galleria mall.

Joseph Johnson, master design consultant from Greenman-Pedersen, went through each of the designs on the table. Johnson said that the proposed “Alternative 1D,” which is projected to cost $24.2 million, is currently the most ideal plan available.

“It really alleviates any queuing issues heading from Route 24 southbound to Route 140 southbound,” Johnson said. “The ramp from Route 24 southbound to Route 140 southbound would bypass the signals. So it would no longer be under signal control as it is today. (Vehicles) would just scoot right beyond where those signals are, physically separated by a median, so vehicles wouldn’t experience any delay.”

Johnson said a traffic study has shown that the peak hour ramp volume at the interchange during the afternoon hours is 1,800 vehicles. He said the designs take into account a 0.5 percent growth per year, while also projecting full build-out at the industrial park.

Carolyn Basler, of East Taunton, offered some criticism during the public input period, specifically about “Alternative 1E.” Basler asked about a proposed shared off ramp from Route 140 south for traffic heading to the mall that would negate the current off ramp there.

Basler pointed out that the proposed plans for traveling south of the mall onto County Street would force drivers to take a left onto the road off of Route 140 because of an intersection proposed in the plan, while currently drivers just go straight through the intersection. Basler said it would create a safety issue and traffic back-up. Johnson said it was a good question, and that they would take it into consideration.

Veteran Taunton Police officer Michael Morais, who lives on the old section of County Street south of the mall, also asked questions about safety for the intersection under plan 1E, which would cost $23.8 million.

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“I’ll have to turn left under this plan,” Morais said. “People come flying out of the mall on 140, toward New Bedford, at that intersection, hitting the gas when the light is yellow. Trying to turn will be almost impossible.”

Each of the plans provide different alternatives, with different ideas for reconfiguring the ramp system at routes 140 and 24, along with the potential widening of Route 140 and potential alternatives at the intersection of Route 140 and Stevens Street near the mall. The alternatives also consider the replacement of the Route 24 bridge over Route 140.

Patel, the project manager, said he thought the meeting went very well.

“I was expecting lots of people at the meeting for casino talk, but it wasn’t really that bad,” Patel said. “But it seems like there was a good number of people with good questions. Again, the plans are at the conceptual design stage. It is still the pre-25 percent stage. There will be more meetings when we have environmental studies done later on. Once we select a preferred alternative, we will have a meeting at 25 percent design stage.”